The Digital Spy Apprentice - Series 2 - Task Announcement Thread!

I'm back, haha. Thanks for not firing me, Anactoria! Commiserations to Justin for being fired - and it's okay, it's all in the past now and we can move on!! I do still feel that this originality thing was totally blown out of proportion because the main 'links' seemed to be the concept (which has never actually been done before in video game form - and if anything; having the release coincide with THG would be more beneficial.) and the food & drink thing - which I wouldn't say was necessarily a link because it's kind of a fundamental factor for a survival game.

Anyway - this is totally not like, a flame post or trying to make me look bitter (I'm sure it will anyway)... Its just I asked both Tyjet & Peter last night on msn (from looking at chatlogs) and they didn't really give proper reasons as to why it was this massive issue - with Tyjet stating the food and drink thing and Peter saying that the copy/paste quotation in the pitch was a problem despite being used to show that there were people out there who would be interested in the game. If you could clarify that'd be awesomesauce - and, I totally respect your decision in the end because its yours to make not mine, or anybody elses.

Also - I would like to apologize for lashing out. I don't really have an excuse but I have had the most stressful week EVER. (Losing a memory stick with 30+ pages of coursework on with the final deadline being in the following few days). I've literally had about 3-4 hours sleep every night this week (except for Friday night) and i'm still absolutely exhausted so when everyone was turning on me and scapegoating me I was really angry; so, apologies for that! I'll come back bigger and better next week! And, shockingly, for the first time in a while, i'll be around all of next weekend.

I'm back, haha. Thanks for not firing me, Anactoria! Commiserations to Justin for being fired - and it's okay, it's all in the past now and we can move on!! I do still feel that this originality thing was totally blown out of proportion because the main 'links' seemed to be the concept (which has never actually been done before in video game form - and if anything; having the release coincide with THG would be more beneficial.) and the food & drink thing - which I wouldn't say was necessarily a link because it's kind of a fundamental factor for a survival game.

Anyway - this is totally not like, a flame post or trying to make me look bitter (I'm sure it will anyway)... Its just I asked both Tyjet & Peter last night on msn (from looking at chatlogs) and they didn't really give proper reasons as to why it was this massive issue - with Tyjet stating the food and drink thing and Peter saying that the copy/paste quotation in the pitch was a problem despite being used to show that there were people out there who would be interested in the game. If you could clarify that'd be awesomesauce - and, I totally respect your decision in the end because its yours to make not mine, or anybody elses.

Also - I would like to apologize for lashing out. I don't really have an excuse but I have had the most stressful week EVER. (Losing a memory stick with 30+ pages of coursework on with the final deadline being in the following few days). I've literally had about 3-4 hours sleep every night this week (except for Friday night) and i'm still absolutely exhausted so when everyone was turning on me and scapegoating me I was really angry; so, apologies for that! I'll come back bigger and better next week! And, shockingly, for the first time in a while, i'll be around all of next weekend.

The originality thing wasn't a question of whether this would go down well with the public (though the fact that a Hunger Games game is allegedly in production probably wouldn't help that), or even one of whether this would work well as a game. I'm sure that a game where you have to outlive your opponents both through out-and-out warfare and through more strategic means (making alliances, collecting food) would work well - in fact, we all agreed that Viveza would win were we to base the task solely on realism.

However, what we wanted to see wasn't just a game that could realistically succeed, but also one that was clever and creative and made us sit up and take notice. And on that front, I think the whole team failed. In the past, I've thought 'ooh, a Hunger Games game would be fun' plenty of times. Your quoting from Gamefaqs only demonstrated that plenty of other people have thought this too. The concept might be workable, but it is not a new one.

Had we asked you to turn a popular franchise into a game, this would have been a great reworking, but what we wanted was something that demonstrated real thinking. So many people have come up with a videogame version of THG - and I know that the team worked to differentiate Elysium on the plot elements, but gameplay-wise, it still looked like a THG ripoff. If we ask for originality in a concept and we get something that anyone could (and has) thought of, then we're going to count that as a failure, even if it's a workable failure. We want you guys to show that you have more to offer, creatively speaking, than some user on Gamefaqs.

The originality thing wasn't a question of whether this would go down well with the public (though the fact that a Hunger Games game is allegedly in production probably wouldn't help that), or even one of whether this would work well as a game. I'm sure that a game where you have to outlive your opponents both through out-and-out warfare and through more strategic means (making alliances, collecting food) would work well - in fact, we all agreed that Viveza would win were we to base the task solely on realism.

However, what we wanted to see wasn't just a game that could realistically succeed, but also one that was clever and creative and made us sit up and take notice. And on that front, I think the whole team failed. In the past, I've thought 'ooh, a Hunger Games game would be fun' plenty of times. Your quoting from Gamefaqs only demonstrated that plenty of other people have thought this too. The concept might be workable, but it is not a new one.

Had we asked you to turn a popular franchise into a game, this would have been a great reworking, but what we wanted was something that demonstrated real thinking. So many people have come up with a videogame version of THG - and I know that the team worked to differentiate Elysium on the plot elements, but gameplay-wise, it still looked like a THG ripoff. If we ask for originality in a concept and we get something that anyone could (and has) thought of, then we're going to count that as a failure, even if it's a workable failure. We want you guys to show that you have more to offer, creatively speaking, than some user on Gamefaqs.

This is just a quick note to say that as Saturday seems to work best for most people, we'll go with Saturday at 4PM as the provisional start for the next task. If anyone has any issues, please let me know.

This is just a quick note to say that as Saturday seems to work best for most people, we'll go with Saturday at 4PM as the provisional start for the next task. If anyone has any issues, please let me know.

As you know, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee is coming up fairly soon, and there's a lot of excitement surrounding it. For this task, you are going to take on the role of a small promotional company. Your company is competing to be hired by the Palace to put together a week of activities and events to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. You should aim to gain maximum publicity for the Jubilee, and you will have a large (but not unlimited) budget to do this.

For this task, you will have to do the following:

- Come up with a theme/overarching concept for your week of events, and write a pitch briefly explaining why this would be ideal
- Figure out a detailed schedule of events. You should have at least one event on each day, culminating with a large party on the final day. Most of these events can be either private or public; however, the last event on the list should be one that members of the public can buy tickets for. This schedule should be the centrepiece of your final plan, so be as creative and detailed as possible.
- Who are you going to get involved with your promotional campaign? You can have up to three celebrity sponsors; figure out who you'd like, and explain why you've chosen them.
- Compose a script for a TV commercial advertising the last event on your list.
- Come up with three items of merchandise that members of the public can purchase to commemorate the events. You don't have to design these; just tell us what they are and how much they will retail for.
- Write an evaluation, looking at how successful your week would be at promoting the Diamond Jubilee, and at any potential weaknesses in your campaign

The deadline for this task is 6PM Monday. The outcome of the task will be determined by a public vote.

For this task, cheekypeter is unfortunately unavailable, so Tyjet will be following both teams. Good luck!

As you know, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee is coming up fairly soon, and there's a lot of excitement surrounding it. For this task, you are going to take on the role of a small promotional company. Your company is competing to be hired by the Palace to put together a week of activities and events to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. You should aim to gain maximum publicity for the Jubilee, and you will have a large (but not unlimited) budget to do this.

For this task, you will have to do the following:

- Come up with a theme/overarching concept for your week of events, and write a pitch briefly explaining why this would be ideal
- Figure out a detailed schedule of events. You should have at least one event on each day, culminating with a large party on the final day. Most of these events can be either private or public; however, the last event on the list should be one that members of the public can buy tickets for. This schedule should be the centrepiece of your final plan, so be as creative and detailed as possible.
- Who are you going to get involved with your promotional campaign? You can have up to three celebrity sponsors; figure out who you'd like, and explain why you've chosen them.
- Compose a script for a TV commercial advertising the last event on your list.
- Come up with three items of merchandise that members of the public can purchase to commemorate the events. You don't have to design these; just tell us what they are and how much they will retail for.
- Write an evaluation, looking at how successful your week would be at promoting the Diamond Jubilee, and at any potential weaknesses in your campaign

The deadline for this task is 6PM Monday. The outcome of the task will be determined by a public vote.

For this task, cheekypeter is unfortunately unavailable, so Tyjet will be following both teams. Good luck!

This is just a quick reminder that the deadline for this task is 6PM today, and both teams should have everything posted by then. After 6PM, viewers will be free to vote for their chosen team by PMing me.

Also, I'm not sure yet when the boardroom for this task will take place - ideally late afternoon tomorrow, but it may have to be Wednesday (before the real show), depending on RL commitments.

Both teams have now finished posting what they've produced, and viewers should feel free to ask questions of the teams, as well as sending me their votes via PM. (If you want to give reasons for your vote, I would appreciate that, but it isn't necessary.)

The boardroom for the latest task will take place at 5PM tomorrow. Thanks so much to the viewers for all the votes so far, and to anyone who hasn't voted, please do! Voting will close just before the boardroom begins tomorrow.